Australian shares dragged lower by financials, tech stocks

Jan 20 (Reuters) – Australian shares fell for a third straight session on Thursday, hurt by financials and tech sectors following a weak finish overnight on Wall Street, while resource-related stocks jumped on robust commodity prices.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (.AXJO) was down 0.3% at 7,332.5 points by 2355 GMT.

Wall Street’s main indexes ended sharply lower, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq confirming it was in correction territory after a diverse set of corporate earnings.

Local tech stocks (.AXIJ) tracked their U.S. peers lower by falling over 1% to their lowest since May 21, with software firm Altium Ltd (ALU.AX) dropping 3.4% to be one of the worst performers on the bourse.

Sector heavyweight Afterpay Ltd (APT.AX) was suspended from trading on the ASX 200 on Jan. 19 after its buyout by Block Inc (SQ.N) became effective following receipt of all regulatory approvals.

Financials (.AXFJ) dropped to their lowest level in nearly a month, losing over 1%, with major banks Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX) and National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB.AX) shedding about 1.4% to 1.7%.

Energy stocks (.AXEJ) also declined 0.8%, with Woodside Petroleum (WPL.AX) and Santos Ltd (STO.AX) falling 1.7% and 0.6%, respectively, even after the country’s top 2 independent gas producers posted strong quarterly numbers. read more

The gold sub-index (.AXGD), however, advanced more than 6%, headed for its biggest jump since June 2020 after bullion prices rose on a weaker dollar.

Evolution Mining Ltd (EVN.AX) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (NST.AX) were one of the top gainers on both the ASX 200 and the gold sub-index, jumping about 9% each.

Miners (.AXMM) were up 1.1%, with top iron ore miner BHP Group (BHP.AX) rising about 1.4%.

Global lithium supplier Vulcan Energy Resources (VUL.AX) added 1.2% on expecting to be formally admitted to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the first half of February.

New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (.NZ50) slid 1.6% to 12,612.3, with energy retailer Mercury NZ leading losses with its 2.6% fall.

In other markets, the S&P 500 E-minis futures were down 7.75 points, or 0.2%.

Reporting by Yamini C S in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.